Traditional Style Interior Design

Traditional style interior design conjures images of elegance and comfort. It means classic lines, matching colors, and antique or reproduction antique-style furniture. Traditional design eschews anything modern or eclectic, overstated or wild. Instead, this style focuses on understated details, upholstered furnishings, tailored cushions and pillows, and soft, smooth edges.

Although this style varies widely according to a homeowner’s personal tastes, there are a few key concepts that appear in nearly every traditionally designed interior.

One of America’s most popular decorating schemes, traditional style is rooted in designs that emerged during the 18th and 19th centuries, including Queen Anne style, and furnishings styled after Chippendale and Thomas Sheraton.

Before launching into some of the key concepts of traditional interior design, it is helpful to know some of the foundations of this style.

Queen Anne style became popular during the last quarter of the 19th century and is derived from the influence of Richard Norman Shaw, who was an influential Victorian architect in England. These furnishings are graceful with simple lines, and curvilinear accents. They are characterized by a carved cockle or scallop shell, often situated on the top of a desk or on the front of a chest. Sometimes a smaller shell was carved on the knee of a chair or table leg.

Queen Anne-style pieces are also known for their ball-and-claw footed cabriole legs, violin chair backs, and decorative turned finials. Some furnishings were finished with a shiny lacquer, but most were varnished with a dark stain.

Chippendale style is one of the most well-known traditional furniture designs. These designs take their name from Thomas Chippendale, an 18th-century cabinetmaker who incorporated English, Gothic and Chinese motifs into his furnishings. These pieces are traditionally made from mahogany and other solid woods, which can accommodate the elaborate carvings that were the hallmark of this style.

Chippendale style is more elaborate than Queen Anne, with a greater use of carving, the addition of fretwork, and rich upholstery in brocades, velvets and damasks. The signature of this style is the cabriole leg, which ends in one of six different feet--the lion’s paw, the ball and claw, the late Chippendale, the Marlborough, and the club and the spade.

Thomas Sheraton is another British furniture designer whose name became associated with a style of furniture that was fashionable during the late-18th and early-19th centuries. His designs are characterized by delicate, straight lines, contrasting veneers and neoclassical motifs and ornamentation. The legs of Sheraton’s furnishings are slender and fluted, round or square, and tapered to natural or spade-style feet. Unlike Chippendale, Sheraton used carving sparingly and incorporated simple ivory or brass key plates and metal drawer pulls. He also turned away from curved lines in favor of straight lines and rectangular designs with an emphasis on vertical lines.

Now that you have an idea of what styles inform traditional furnishings, the next step in creating traditional interior design is to understand the various details of this style, including fabrics, colors, and accessories.

Fabrics for traditional design schemes trend towards florals, solids, muted plaids, understated stripes, and tone-on-tone patterns. Make sure you keep your fabric choices to three or four at most in any room. Too many will create cacophony. Don’t use anything too shiny, or textured. Instead choose chintz, crewel or velvet.

Colors in a traditional home should remain in the mid-tone range. You don’t want anything too bright or jarring. Maintain a palette that feels comfortable to you--blues, greens, yellows, light oranges, pale reds, and neutrals. Color combinations should be complementary and, when choosing different colors for different rooms, make sure the transition between the rooms is easy on the eyes. For example, don’t paint your dining room a bright red if your living room is covered with golds or greens. The colors should flow throughout the home. Paint your crown moldings and chair rails a bright white or stain them a color to match your furniture.

Keep your accessories comfortable and subtle. Traditional interiors are characterized by symmetry and lack of clutter. Opt for classic urns, china or porcelain vases, a matched set of framed prints, mirrors, and leather-bound book collections. Lamps should be adorned with plain, silk-covered shades, and all bedrooms and dining areas should feature crisp, clean linens in muted tones and free of pattern.

They key to a traditional interior is to keep things quiet, comfortable, symmetrical and, above all, personal. Make sure to put a little of your personality into the design, whether through your choice of accessories or the color palette. Just remember that traditional design is no place for fake flowers, collections of figurines or layers upon layers of antiques. Keep your home free from clutter, and remember that less is definitely more.

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